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Comparison: SX-1980 vs. SX-1280

Big Tuna

Big Tuna

Too Much Power!
Okay, now, last night I rotated my SX-1980 with my SX-1280 on the rack. This is the first time I have played the 1280 with the Model Sevens. The 1280 does sound superb...............but, I don't know if it's me or the 1280. It seems to be MUCH louder at 1 watt than my 1980 is, and Yes I keep the tone controls the same between the two. What the heck am I missing here?? Where the 1980 outshines the 1280 is the detail, and the sound output is noticeably more controlled and accurate at any volume. The 1280 doesn't even put out any heat at the heat sinks, just a barely of a smudge hint of luke-warm to the feel. Another thing I notice is the 1280 doesn't reach it's near-full power output until 3/4 volume, whereas the 1980 reaches it at 1/2 volume. Would it be beneficial to upgrade the 1280's caps to 22,000uF??

Anyways, so that's my comparison of my two beasts.
 
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The watt meters are not "exactly" accurate. I think the 18,000uf is adequate for the 1280, but if your gonna replace them, get the bigger ones.
 
Both are sounding very good. My SX-1280 meters do not react as fast, as the SX-1980 meters.


 
When I first acquired my SX-1280, my meters would read about 10 watts at 11 o'clock on the volume, but after I cleaned the controls with contact cleaner, now the meters read 10 watts at 9 o'clock. The receiver seemed to grow balls after a cleaning. All those switches look really cool, but if you want to maintain good sound, a routine cleaning must be done. That's why most high end gear of today have very few controls.
 
slow_jazz said:
The SX-1250 had bigger capaictors than the SX-1280.. I'd go with bigger ones.
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Yeah, the 1280 has 18,000uF caps, and the 1250 & 1980 share the same 22,000uF caps. To me it seems the 1250 & 1980 have more in common than the 1280 & 1980.

Correction-the 1280 has 15,000uF caps, not 18K
 
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About the discrepancy in the sound quality and volume of your SX-1980 as compared to your SX-1280, sounds as if the DC bias needs to be adjusted on the 1980. Also, the meters are calibrated once the power output is balanced correctly. This will also account for a difference in heat generation from one side to the other.
This gentleman recently performed a cleaning and calibration on my SX-1980 and it literally whips my SX-1280's butt. Here is his link.
http://www.mcintoshaudio.com/dewick_repairs.htm
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He is a sponsor to this website and his advert is at the bottom of the home page under "DeWick Repairs".
 
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